Freddie Mac actually increased its monthly volume by 7.3 percent from December levels, but Fannie Mae’s production fell 15.6 percent.

Warehouse lending executives interviewed by IMFnews the past week are reporting healthy usage rates from their nonbank clients...

Among originators, Freedom Mortgage ranks 10th. In 2014 it funded $23.63 billion, a 48 percent gain from the year prior.

Compass Point hiked its purchase money estimate to $819 billion from $787 billion.

Broker-originated purchase mortgages pushed the envelope a little further, with an average credit score of 719.1 and an average DTI of 37.7.

From 2005 to 2007 homeowners converted an estimated $823 billion of home equity into swimming pools, cars, hospital bills and other uses. Of course, those days are long gone.

It’s no secret that the securitization market for jumbo loans has been anemic since the housing bust of 2008, but is mortgage insurance a possible panacea? Arch MI recently set up a new subsidiary that will write coverage on jumbo loans as well as portfolio products. In its press statement, Arch said it created Arch Mortgage Guaranty Co. in part to aid lenders that want to securitize. In a recent interview with Inside MBS & ABS, Arch MI President David Gansberg said...

DBRS, which reports its ratings on re-securitizations, actually was involved in more transactions than S&P and ranked second in dollar volume with $6.47 billion.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac issued $57.72 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities in January, a 7.8 percent decline from the previous month, according to a new Inside The GSEs ranking and analysis.Freddie actually increased its monthly volume by 7.3 percent from December levels, but Fannie production fell 15.6 percent. It’s not unusual for GSE monthly trends to fluctuate; Fannie’s MBS issuance was up sharply in December. Freddie’s production was buoyed slightly by some $199.3 million of modified mortgages that were securitized last month. And it’s not surprising that the flow of purchase mortgages into GSE securities fell 14.4 percent in January, as the housing market hit a seasonal cooling.However, refinance activity was also [includes exclusive charts] ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency continues to analyze the issue of principal reductions for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, but Director Mel Watt made it clear recently that unless it’s a “win-win” for both the borrower and the GSEs, the issue is a non-starter with him. Moreover, in a press briefing, he made it clear that at some point the FHFA may take the issue off the table entirely. “We’re doing a lot of work on this,” Watt said, suggesting that if a program ever sees the light of day, principal reductions would be done “in a responsible way.” The FHFA has come under political pressure from left-leaning members of the Democratic Party, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts ...